Son Soaks Through Diapers at Night

Updated on
October 19, 2007

J.M.
asks from
Upland, CA
on October 02, 2007

25
answers

My 12 month old son has to be drinking something to fall asleep at night. I don't mind this because he's okay with water. The only thing that bothers me is that he drinks so much that in the morning his diaper is so soaked that his bed is wet and so are his jammies. We've tried giving him less to drink at night, but he cries for something to drink. I've even tried putting a pad in his diaper to see if it would help, but they still leak. We use Pampers, so they're not cheap diapers. If anyone has any ideas, please let me know. Thanks!

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So What Happened?

Thank you to everyone who gave me advice. I really appreciate everyone's help. We give my son less to drink at night and he has larger diapers that are made for nighttime. We have wake up to mostly dry mornings! Thanks alot!

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R.S.

answers from
Los Angeles
on
October 19, 2007

I have an 11mo old boy, and I have had the same promblem-until recently. I looked EVERYWHERE for nighttime diapers, and all I could find was size 5 and bigger in Pull-ups. Forget trying to find Huggies nighttime!! I was advised by a kind mommy in Target that the Costco diapers were more absorbent than Pampers and Huggies, and they worked great for her 2 yr old boy. I bought them and they really do work great. Not to mention they are WAY cheaper ($35 for 182 diapers!). Good Luck- I know that changing a crib sheet is the biggest PITA ever!

S.M.

answers from
Los Angeles
on
October 03, 2007

One thing I have noticed is that Pampers are better for little girls. I use Huggies and I rarely have a leaky diaper. Huggies seem to be better for boys and Pampers for girls. My sister agrees and she has a little girl. Huggies are the same price so you don't have to worry about that part. Try them and see how you like them!!

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R.S.

answers from
Los Angeles
on
October 03, 2007

At the age of 12 months, this is the PERFECT age to begin to wean him off the drinking at night, otherwise you are going to wind up with a toddler who cannot sleep through the night without wetting, which will carry over into the potty training process. If you don't stop at this point, it will only get harder....slowly give less and less and do the best you can to make sure the diaper is completely dry just as he is about to fall asleep. This is the age where you need to stop giving bottles and start giving sippy cups...you just have to be in control of the amouunts you put in the cup...

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L.B.

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T.H.

answers from
Los Angeles
on
October 03, 2007

First, try and change diaper brands. I have foudn that for me Huggies are not good becuase of this exact reason....diaper not only full, but it also has little white things that come out and fall apart when youi take the diaper off. I like pampers,and even Luv's works too, but you try what is best for you.

Second, try just giving him just a little (like you have) but when he cries for more (I knopw this will sound bad but it works) let him cry and tell him that this was all he will get tonight. You need to stand strong becuase if you give in, he will think you will give with other things. We have done this with both our son and daughter, and it has worked. For a few days they cry for a long time...us going in to tell them to realax and close their eyes. After a few days he should settle down once he knows you won't give in..

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A.V.

answers from
Los Angeles
on
October 02, 2007

Hi J.,

My son who just got off the bottle 3 weeks ago is 20 months old and when he would drink 8 bottles a night I would have to change him 5 times a night. He would completely fill the diaper and then some each time. I also use pampers and I would put 2 of thoes plastic diaper covers (I know there is a name for them, but I honestly can not remember what it is) but I'm sure you know which ones I am refering to. They are sold in the baby isle and you wear them to help keep your clothes dry. Well, I would put two of thoes on and that would help everything. But also, I would have my son wear a size bigger diaper, which would allow more to fill the diaper as well and help keep it away from his skin. That might hope you as well. :)
Good luck and have a great day.
A.

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S.M.

answers from
Los Angeles
on
October 03, 2007

One thing I have noticed is that Pampers are better for little girls. I use Huggies and I rarely have a leaky diaper. Huggies seem to be better for boys and Pampers for girls. My sister agrees and she has a little girl. Huggies are the same price so you don't have to worry about that part. Try them and see how you like them!!

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J.M.

answers from
San Diego
on
October 03, 2007

Hi my name is J.. My son use to have the same problem. The pampers I found to work the best believe it or not are Luvs. They are wonderful and they don't leak through the night. I use to by the cheapier pampers for the day and use the Luvs at night and there cheapier than pampers. Good luck.
J.

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E.M.

answers from
Los Angeles
on
October 03, 2007

I agree with Tina H. It seems harsh at first, but if you ween him off the feeling of having to have something to suck on before he goes to sleep, you won't have the mess in the morning. My daughter, (2.5) loves to go to bed with her sippy cup and everytime she does, she wets her bed. I've started to tell her that she's had enough to drink and she needs to go to sleep. I know she's not thirsty or hungry. She throughs a fit and cry's, but I know she's okay and not hurting, so I let her cry. I just need to be more consistant. Good luck.

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L.V.

answers from
Los Angeles
on
October 03, 2007

My son did the exact same thing and I too didn't mind since it was water. But what I did was feel how wet his diaper was right before he would fall asleep and change it right then if it was even slightly wet (usually in the morning it would be ok). However, if it wasn't wet during that time, I would wake myself up 2 or 3 hours later and change him while he was sleeping. This was a less inconvenience for me then having to change him and his bedding first thing in the morning (since there are so many things to do in the morning already!).

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T.G.

answers from
Los Angeles
on
October 02, 2007

J.,

I haven't tried the diaper covers (although I am going to now!!); however, I have used diapers 1 size larger than recommended and seemed to work for us. I also just recently found diapers called "Overnights" I am not sure who makes them (pampers, huggies etc. . .) however I do know that they work very well. I have only found them in drugstores (walgreens, CVS and maybe the supermarkets), I know that wal-mart does not carry them. I did find that I had more leaks when I was using Pampers, and switched over to Huggies. We still had leaks; but, they were not as frequent. Hope this helps . . .

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S.G.

answers from
Stationed Overseas
on
October 02, 2007

I'm chiming in to agree with April regarding the plastic diaper covers. We lived in Europe when we had our daughter and traveled a lot. For those who've traveled to some of the countries you know the bathrooms in airports, etc are not what we are used to. So, I always used the plastic diaper covers just in case and they were wonderful!

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R.S.

answers from
Los Angeles
on
October 19, 2007

I have an 11mo old boy, and I have had the same promblem-until recently. I looked EVERYWHERE for nighttime diapers, and all I could find was size 5 and bigger in Pull-ups. Forget trying to find Huggies nighttime!! I was advised by a kind mommy in Target that the Costco diapers were more absorbent than Pampers and Huggies, and they worked great for her 2 yr old boy. I bought them and they really do work great. Not to mention they are WAY cheaper ($35 for 182 diapers!). Good Luck- I know that changing a crib sheet is the biggest PITA ever!

E.L.

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A.G.

answers from
Los Angeles
on
October 12, 2007

J.,
My son used to have an issue similar to this..only difference is he demanded juice, but as Natalie said (I had to have surgery as a baby as well) it rots their teeth, so i took the time to transition him to water...then i realized one sippy cup in particular seemed harder to get the fluid out of for my son, so i decided to give him that one at night, he eventually got tired of not being able to get it out of the cup and only used it to hold, as though it is a comfort habit. I bought the cup at wal mart, its a "cars" cup...from the movie....they dont have any others of this kind there, and there is no stopper in it, its just that the hole is so small its a struggle. If you cant break the habit and let the baby cry, try finding a cup like mine. just be creative. good luck

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N.S.

answers from
San Diego
on
October 05, 2007

J.,

To be honest, you are going to have a lot of dental issues if your sons habit is not broken soon. Our water here is not exactly the best of water and if he has more that just water he is having tooth decay all night long on his teeth. I am speaking from a mom with expierence in this arena. My 17 year old had to have major dental surgery at 5 because I was unwilling to sit out the 3-5 nights of breaking his nightly habit. My advice-harsh as it is-is from the heart and from personal expierence. This is a habit that will require breaking and one that will tougher on you than on him. Pulling him completely from the "drinking to fall asleep" is really the best way to go. He will cry and scream and fight it; stand strong. This will go on for 3-5 nights and you will have wondered why you didnt do this before. Make a routine out of the nighttime and stick to it. Start it a week or so before you break him of his habit. Get him a snack, a cup of milk or juice read a couple of stories brush his teeth and then its bed. Be consistent and you will find that your habit will be easier to break and you will have a routine established for both of you.

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D.W.

answers from
Los Angeles
on
October 03, 2007

Have you tried the nighttime diapers? I've never had to use them, but I've seen them at the stores. I use Huggies and they seem to work pretty well. I do, however, occasionally have a wet baby in the morning.

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A.S.

answers from
Los Angeles
on
October 03, 2007

We're a Pampers family too (they just fit my girl better), but we had the same problem at nite. We use the Huggies Overnites just at bedtime and it's made a world of difference. No more wet beds every morning...YAY!

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K.B.

answers from
San Diego
on
October 03, 2007

Have you tried using the nighttime diapers? They are more costly but they may save you time by keeping you from washing the bedding every night. I had the same problem with my youngest. Even when he switched to pull-ups we had to buy the night ones. Good luck!

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M.W.

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T.H.

answers from
Los Angeles
on
October 07, 2007

The same thing happens with my 21 month old daughter. We switched from Pampers to Huggies and it got a little better, but she still requires water before bed (and has since I can remember). I've just been giving her less and less, but it's frustrating.